Sticky toffee pudding facts for kids
.jpg) |
|
| Alternative names | Sticky date pudding |
|---|---|
| Type | Pudding |
| Course | Dessert |
| Place of origin | England |
| Region or state | North West England |
| Created by | Patricia Martin |
| Main ingredients | Sponge cake, dates, toffee |
Sticky toffee pudding, also known as STP or as sticky date pudding in Australia and New Zealand, is a British/English dessert consisting of a very moist sponge cake, made with finely chopped dates, covered in a toffee sauce and often served with a vanilla custard or vanilla ice-cream. It is considered a British classic by various culinary experts, alongside bread and butter pudding, jam roly-poly and spotted dick puddings.
Origins
The exact origins of sticky toffee pudding are unknown and disputed. Francis Coulson and Robert Lee developed and served the dish at their Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel in the Lake District, in North West England, in the 1970s. Food critic Simon Hopkinson claimed that Coulson told him he got the recipe from a Patricia Martin of Claughton in Lancashire. Martin had published the recipe in a compilation that later became The Good Food Guide Dinner Party Book, and first served the dish at her country hotel.
Coulson's recipe differs from Martin's only in the sauce. Her son later told Hopkinson that she had originally got the recipe from two Canadian air force officers who had lodged at her hotel during the Second World War. According to Hopkinson, this Canadian origin makes sense, as the pudding uses a batter more akin to that of an American muffin, rather than an English sponge.
